When was the lunar rover invented?

Answer 1

The concept of a lunar rover predated Apollo, with a 1952–1954 series in Collier's Weekly magazine by Wernher von Braun and others, "Man Will Conquer Space Soon!" In this, von Braun, who had come to America from Germany under Operation Paperclip and was a leader at the Army Ballistic Missile Agency, described a six-week stay on the Moon, featuring 10-ton tractor trailers for moving supplies.

In 1956, Mieczyslaw G. Bekker, a native of Poland and then a professor at the University of Michigan and a consultant to the Land Locomotion Laboratory at the U.S. Army Tank-Automotive Command, published two books on land locomotion. These books provided much of the theoretical base for future lunar vehicle development.

Beginning in the early 1960s, a series of studies centering on lunar mobility were conducted under Marshall Space Flight Center. This began with the Lunar Logistics System (LLS), followed by the Mobility Laboratory (MOLAB), then the Lunar Scientific Survey Module (LSSM), and finally the Mobility Test Article (MTA). In early planning for the Apollo Program, it had been assumed that two Saturn V launch vehicles would be used for each lunar mission: one for sending the crew aboard a Lunar Surface Module (LSM) to lunar orbit, landing, and returning, and a second for sending an LSM-Truck (LSM-T) with all of the equipment, supplies, and transport vehicle for use by the crew while on the surface. All of the first MSFC studies were based on this dual-launch assumption, allowing a large, heavy, roving vehicle.

The LLS studies were begun by Grumman and Northrop in the fall of 1962; these were designs for pressurized cabin vehicles with electric motors for each wheel. At about this same time, Bendix and Boeing were conducting internal studies on lunar transportation systems. Bekker, now with General Motors Defense Research Laboratories (GMDRL) at Santa Barbara, California, was completing a study for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory on a small, unmanned lunar roving vehicle for the Surveyor Program. Ferenc Pavlics, originally from Hungary, used a wire-mesh design for "resilient wheels," a design that would be followed in future small rovers.

In early 1963, NASA selected MSFC for studies in an Apollo Logistics Support System (ALSS). Following reviews of all earlier efforts, this resulted in a 10-volume report. Included was the need for a pressurized vehicle in the 6,490–8,470lb (2,940–3,840kg) weight range, accommodating two men with their expendables and instruments for traverses up to two weeks in duration. This was called a Mobility Laboratory (MOLAB). In June 1964, MSFC awarded contracts for MOLAB studies and Mobility Test Articles (MTAs) to Bendix and to Boeing, with GMDRL as vehicle technology subcontractor. Bell Aerospace was already under contract for studies of Lunar Flying Vehicles.

With pressure from Congress to hold down Apollo costs, Saturn V production was reduced, allowing only a single booster per mission. It would then be necessary for any roving vehicle to be carried on the same Lunar Module as transporting the astronauts. In November 1964, ALSS was put on indefinite hold, but Bendix and Boeing were given study contracts for small rovers under the LSSM program. The name of the Lunar Excursion Module was changed to simply the Lunar Module, indicating that the capability for powered "excursions" away from a lunar-lander base did not yet exist. There could be no SHELAB — the astronauts would work out of the LM — and the LTV accommodating two persons took the name Local Scientific Surface Module (LSSM). MSFC was also examining unmanned robotic rovers that could be controlled from the Earth.

In designing the LSSM MTA, full use was made of all earlier small-rover studies, and commercially available components were incorporated wherever possible. The selection of wheels was of great importance, and almost nothing was known at that time about the lunar surface. The MSFC Space Sciences Laboratory (SSL) was responsible for predicting surface properties. BECO was also the prime support contractor for the SSL and set up a test area to examine a wide variety of wheel-surface conditions. To simulate Pavlics' "resilient wheel," a four-foot-diameter inner tube wrapped with nylon ski rope was used. On the MTA, each wheel had a small electric motor, with overall power provided by standard truck batteries. A roll bar gave protection from overturn accidents.

In early 1966, BECO's MTA became available for examining human factors and other testing. MSFC built a small test track with craters and rock debris where the LSSM and MOLAB MTAs were compared; it was soon obvious that a small rover would be best for the proposed missions. The vehicle was also operated in remote mode to determine characteristics in tests that might be dangerous to the operator, such as acceleration, bounce-height, and turn-over tendency as it traveled at higher speeds and over simulated obstacles. The LSSM performance under one-sixth gravity was obtained through flights on a KC-135A aircraft in a Reduced Gravity parabolic maneuver; among other things, the need for a very soft wheel and suspension combination was shown. Although Pavlics' wire-mesh wheels were not available for the MTA, testing of these was conducted on various soils at the Waterways Experiment Station of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at Vicksburg, Mississippi. Later, when wire-mesh wheels were tested on low-g flights, the need for wheel fenders to reduce dust contamination was found. The LSSM MTA was extensively tested at the U.S. Army's Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona, as well as the Army's Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland.

During 1965 and 1967, the Summer Conference on Lunar Exploration and Science brought together leading scientists to assess NASA's planning for exploring the Moon and to make recommendations. One of their findings was that the LSSM was critical to a successful program and should be given major attention. At MSFC, von Braun established the Lunar Roving Task team, and in May 1969, NASA selected the Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV) for use in manned lunar missions and approved the Manned Lunar Rover Vehicle Program as a MSFC hardware development. Saverio F. "Sonny" Morea was named the LRV program manager.

On 11 July 1969, just before the successful Moon landing of Apollo 11, a request for proposal for the final development and building the Apollo LRV was released by MSFC. Boeing, Bendix, Grumman, and Chrysler submitted proposals. Following three months of proposal evaluation and negotiations, Boeing was selected as the Apollo LRV prime contractor on 28 October 1969.

The first cost-plus-incentive-fee contract to Boeing was for $19,000,000 and called for delivery of the first LRV by 1 April 1971. Cost overruns, however, led to a final cost of $38,000,000, which was about the same as NASA's original estimate. Four lunar rovers were built, one each for Apollo missions 15, 16, and 17; and one used for spare parts after the cancellation of further Apollo missions. Other LRV models were built: a static model to assist with human factors design; an engineering model to design and integrate the subsystems; two one-sixth gravity models for testing the deployment mechanism; a one-gravity trainer to give the astronauts instruction in the operation of the rover and allow them to practice driving it; a mass model to test the effect of the rover on the LM structure, balance, and handling; a vibration test unit to study the LRV's durability and handling of launch stresses; and a qualification test unit to study integration of all LRV subsystems. A paper by Savero Morea gives details of the LRV system and its development.

LRVs were used for greater surface mobility during the Apollo J-class missions, Apollo 15, Apollo 16, and Apollo 17. The rover was first used on 31 July 1971, during the Apollo 15 mission. This greatly expanded the range of the lunar explorers. Previous teams of astronauts were restricted to short walking distances around the landing site due to the bulky space suit equipment required to sustain life in the lunar environment. The range, however, was operationally restricted to remain within walking distance of the lunar module, in case the rover broke down at any point.The rovers were designed with a top speed of about 8mph (13km/h), although Eugene Cernan recorded a maximum speed of 11.2mph (18.0km/h), giving him the (unofficial) lunar land-speed record.

Answer 2

It was first used during the fourth manned mission to land on the moon, Apollo 15. The rover was used on July 31, August 1, and August 2, 1971. Additional rovers were used during the Apollo 16 mission in April of 1972, and the final manned mission, Apollo 17 in December of 1972. In 1970, the Soviet Union landed an unmanned moon-car called 'Lunokhod', that was radio-controlled from Earth and used a solar battery. It took some of the most detailed surface photographs of the lunar surface that now exist, as well as mapping the terrain of some hitherto little-known regions of the moon.

Answer 3

Lunar explortion began in the 1950s (after the second world war).

Answer 4

I have no idea!